Business Contract Lawyer

If you own a small business, it is vitally important that you seek legal guidance when drafting contracts and when preparing to sign contract language that has been provided by another party. All too often, small business owners understand the seriousness with which the contract process should be approached but are unaware of how to spot warning signs that could lead the execution of a simple contract to turn into a costly, time-intensive, potentially ruinous legal mess.

Working with an attorney on contract-related matters will help to ensure that you’re not unintentionally drafting or signing a contract that isn’t properly structured, may be unenforceable, or may otherwise lead to trouble. When contracts are prepared properly, both sides are empowered with clear expectations, clear articulation of their rights, and manageable terms that are unlikely to be breached unless one party goes out of its way to avoid compliance.

Hiring Employees

As an experienced business contract lawyer – including those who practice at the Law Group of Iowa – can confirm, some of the most common kinds of contracts that small business owners need to execute are employment contracts. Hiring offers, non-disclosure agreements, severance offers, etc. are all regularly used when dealing with employees.

If you don’t have a lawyer review these agreements before they are signed, you are – to put it bluntly – risking being sued by applicants, workers, and former workers. Don’t take that risk. It isn’t worth it.

A Word About Real Estate

It may seem like an obvious choice that a business owner should have a lawyer review the terms of any rental, purchase, or alternative real estate contract. After all, breaches of a real estate contract can not only be costly, they can leave business owners without a place to operate.

Yet, some business owners – especially those who are naturally trusting and good-natured – often take for granted that the terms they’ve been offered are fair. If you’re a naturally trusting person, that’s truly an admirable thing. But, for the sake of your business and everyone it affects, you need to have your real estate contracts reviewed before you sign them.

Can’t Business Owners Just Access Contract Templates Online?

Utilizing any contract template before it has been reviewed by an attorney is ill-advised. State and local laws are nuanced and it is rare that any templates provided on the Internet account for geographically-specific legal needs. Even those that do may not reflect recent alterations in the law or evolutions in legal theory that protect small business owners to the greatest possible extent.

It can be understandably tempting to grab a contract template online and be done with it. But given the high stakes of what a contract dispute can do to a small business, this temptation isn’t worth its risks. You have worked so hard to build your company. Don’t risk its integrity, its financial stability, or even its viability because you couldn’t be bothered to have your contracts reviewed before legally committing yourself to certain terms.